


with great power comes a great arse

by squishy (Snowingiron)



Category: One Direction (Band), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spider-Man Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Enemies to Lovers, Kissing, Louis Tomlinson as Spider-Man, M/M, Multi, Secret Identity Fail, Smut, Snark, Superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 05:46:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12905379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowingiron/pseuds/squishy
Summary: Louis isn’t an idiot, in fact he’s very smart. So smart. The smartest superhero that will ever live. Because he has seen enough superhero movies to not make the same mistakes. Most heroes try to hide their secret identity by pretending to hate said superhero. But that makes them even more suspicious so what does Louis do instead?He becomes his own biggest fan.(In which Louis is spider-man, Zayn figures him out in a second, and Liam is his best friend.)





	with great power comes a great arse

**Author's Note:**

> My fic is inspired by [this post](https://squishyharold.tumblr.com/private/164638672294/tumblr_o5vwoiu5KY1sqezzk) and the idea that Louis would wear his own merchandise if he was spider-man :'D

Louis isn’t an idiot, in fact he’s very smart. So smart. The smartest superhero that will ever live. Because he has seen enough superhero movies to not make the same mistakes. Most heroes try to hide their secret identity by pretending to hate said superhero. But that makes them even more suspicious so what does Louis do instead?

“He is so fit,” Louis sighs and rubs his fingers all over a picture of himself in the newspaper. It’s a good shot of his arse in spandex and Liam makes irritated noises next to him.

“He’s alright, I guess.”

“Are you kidding me?” Louis turns to his best friend (who is very fit as well but also his oldest friend, they grew up together and of course Louis had a crush on him ever since he realised he was super fucking gay) and shoves the newspaper right into his face. “Have you  _seen_ this body?”

“Jesus Christ, Lou,” Liam complains and swats his hands away. “Why are you so obsessed with him? He’s not the only ‘hero’ and I remember how scared you were of spiders back then.”

Louis remembers, too. He specifically remembers how Liam saved him from a big fat spider once and then proceeded to cuddle him because Louis was crying his eyes out and then got snot all over his best friend. Good times, man. Good times. Because Liam doesn’t cuddle him anymore, which doesn’t really upset him, but… okay, yes, it upsets him. Which is why Louis really wants Liam to like spider-man, but the harder he tries the more Liam seems to despise him.

“There’s so much shit going on the in world,” Louis mumbles and smooths his thumb over the kinks in the paper that Liam had caused by smacking it back into his face. “Isn’t it good that there’s someone taking care of it?”

Liam just shrugs. “Of course. I just don’t understand why you’re so into him. You’re never obsessed with anyone.”

 _I am_ , Louis thinks,  _you’re just an oblivious idiot._

“Awww.” Louis grins instead, trying to lighten the mood, to cover up any implications and erase all possible serious conversations. “Are you jealous? Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you.”

He expects the roll of Liam’s eyes, the shake of his head, he  _doesn’t_ expect the fierce and tight hug he’s caught in a moment later, almost possessive fingers digging into his back.

“I wouldn’t let you anyway. You’re my best friend.”

And all Louis can think is: I'm screwed.

*

Louis becomes the president of the official spider-man fan club at his school. How? He beats all members in spider-man trivia and who knows himself better than Louis? (Liam perhaps). He plans meetings with a very simple agenda: talking about how great spider-man is. Because Louis never gets tired of hearing about it, his ego climbing up to the roof every time he hears them gush over him. It feels good, it’s amazing and no one suspects a thing!

No one but Zayn. Zayn Malik, the quiet one who is always glaring and watching when he isn’t drawing in his sketchbook. Louis spends time with him way too often because they both always end up getting detention somehow. Louis knows he’s a little shit so it’s no wonder he’s always here but Zayn? He doesn’t get it. That boy looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly.

“Why are you staring at me?” Zayn asks, staring back.

“Me?  _You’re_  staring at me. I get it, I’m super hot but that doesn’t give you the right to objectify me.”

Zayn snorts and goes back to his sketchbook. “You’re part of my project. I only draw a certain type of people.”

“Oh and what type is that?”

“Pathetic losers.”

Louis’ jaw goes slack with offence and he’s so close to throw the whole desk at Zayn. How dare he!

“What the fuck?” Louis hisses so he doesn’t wake up the teacher who is supposed to watch them.

“You’re president of the spidey club. That makes you a pathetic loser.”

“Oh, I see. You’re one of those haters, aren’t you?” He lets one hand slide down the front of his spider-man fan shirt. “Well, you’re probably just jealous because you’re not as great as him. I don’t blame you but you should stop trying, Malik. You’re a lost cause.”

Zayn glares at Louis, ready to throw another insult at him when the teacher snorts himself awake and blinks around the room. “What was that? What are you two saying? You better shut up or I’ll keep you until midnight.”

They both do just that then and Louis avoids looking at Zayn from then on, even when the teacher falls asleep again right away. Pathetic. Zayn should draw  _him_  instead of Louis.

“Psst,” Zayn says but Louis ignores him. “ _Psssst_!”

Louis rolls his eyes but faces him. “What?” He whispers.

A huge fucking smirk stretches over Zayn’s whole face as he lifts up his sketchbook so Louis can see it. He shows him a drawing of Louis. Louis in his spider-man costume and it’s so accurate he feels sick. His eyes quickly meet Zayn’s who silently mouths an 'I see you bitch’, emphasising it by pointing at his own eyes and then at Louis.

Louis who feels caught red-handed ( _How_  the fuck did he figure it out?) flees instantly. Fuck detention.

*

Louis loves being spider-man. It’s not just that people see him as a hero or that he gets to help someone, it’s everything else. Climbing up the walls, knowing that his body won’t fail him. Flying, even though it’s not actually flying but it’s close enough. And during all of that he still gets to be himself. He has a whole stack of comics at home about superheroes that try to split themselves into different personalities, who talk about their superhero persona as someone else because it’s just a mask to them.

To Louis spider-man isn’t a different person, if anything he’s even more himself as spider-man since he doesn’t have to hide anything, as stupid as it sounds. That’s why he’s always so close to telling Liam because he wants Liam to know him like this. Yeah, Louis can be rude and he fucks with people all the time, has set the lab on fire more than once… But he always wished he could’ve helped those other kids that were being bullied. He has always felt too weak for that and now he isn’t weak anymore.

The only time he was spider-man in his Louis-suit was when he was 9 years old, when he met Liam. He saved him back then from a bunch of arseholes that tried to make him eat sand. It’s no surprise they became best friends after that and Louis fell pretty hard for that little boy who hero worshipped him for years. He wonders why that stopped, why Liam now looks at him like he’s the one who has to protect Louis. It’s ridiculous.

“Oh shit,” Louis curses when he misses the next building, his web flying into nothingness as he drops from the sky like a rock. Luckily he lands softly, right on the head of a robber who just tried to run off with the money that now gets sent flying into the air.

“Ouch,” Louis groans and quickly gets off the man who he literally knocked out with his spandex arse. “Man, I wish I could say I was sorry.”

he pats himself down and grins when he notices a crowd of people staring at him, whispering, sneaking photos. He loves the attention, knowing he doesn’t have to feel bad about it. It’s not like they’ve always loved him, he earned that love, the respect. So he makes a show out of wrapping up the guy in his webs like a Christmas present to leave behind for the cops before he takes a bow.

“My dear citizens, thank you for coming to the show, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Sadly, I don’t have time to answer any questions but one: Yes, it did hurt when I fell from heaven.” Then he proceeds to cover up the eyes on his suit with one hand, waving the other around. “And now I’ll pretend for the rest of the day that I didn’t see the money this guy robbed from the bank and just spider away!”

He still hears the crowd cheering when he swings his way around the building.

*

“Liam.”

Silence.

“Liam…”

“Hmpfh?”

“Remember when we used to play pretended that I was the superhero and you were the villain?”

“I do… why?”

“You were a shitty villain.”

He revels in the sound of Liam’s laugh. “Well, you were a miserable hero.”

“I was,” Louis has to agree. “Do you know why?”

“Tell me.”

“I was never doing it for the right reasons.”

And before Liam can ask him to elaborate Louis leans over to twist his nipple.

*

There was fire everywhere, a crumbling building that made scrunching noises as it collapsed in on itself with too many people left inside that Louis couldn’t save. He still feels his heart race and his hands tremble when he shoves open the window to the only person who can help him clean up his wounds. The only person who fucking knows.

“Louis?” Zayn stares at him for a second and then he’s moving quickly, sketchbook falling to the floor carelessly as he helps Louis climb inside. “What the fuck happened, you smell like death.”

“There was a fire,” he croaks and holds on to Zayn who coaxes him onto the bed. “Can you patch me up? I think I got some burns and my back stings like a bitch.”

Zayn’s hands are surprisingly gentle and soft as he helps him out of his suit, hissing softly when he looks at Louis’ skin. “Looks bad.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. It will heal but some disinfection would be really fucking nice.”

“How about you don’t swear in my fucking house, huh?”

Louis can’t help but grin at Zayn who grins back for a moment but then he looks away, clearing his throat. “My mum’s a nurse, I will get something.”

When he closes the door behind him Louis rolls onto his side and groans. He probably shouldn’t move, he shouldn’t do anything, he shouldn’t even  _be_  here but he panicked. He usually doesn’t panic but for a moment he actually thought that he might die and his brain had screamed Zayn’s name. He has to protect his mum which means he also has to protect his identity and there’s no one else. No one else who knows.

“Okay, don’t move,” Zayn says when he comes back and Louis hisses at the burning sensation of the antiseptic. “I said don’t move!”

“How about you don’t yell at me?” Louis growls back. “I’ve done a lot of fucking good tonight, I don’t deserve to be yelled at.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” But there’s no real heat behind Zayn’s word.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Everyone keeps reminding me. Literally everyone. Wow, my life sucks, huh? The only time people love me is when I’m wearing a mask. You’re right, that’s really pathetic.”

Zayn doesn’t say anything but his hands keep moving across Louis’ body and Louis closes his eyes, trying to relax long enough for Zayn to get finished. He falls asleep like that, he doesn’t even mean to, but when the sunlight wakes him up he’s still on the same bed, wearing half of his suit with a blanket covering him up. Zayn is nowhere to be found and Louis panics again. Shit.

He slips back into his spidey suit and leaves the way he came in last night. It’s fine, Zayn will probably pretend it never happened. No one has to know about this.

*

“You wanted to see me?” Louis says, dangling from the ceiling as he holds on to one of his webs.

“Get the fuck down, Tomlinson,” Zayn says dangerously quiet, like he’s burning with fury on the inside.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me!”

Louis sighs and twists his body until his tip toes are closer to the floor. He lands on both feet with bent knees, one hand planted on the floor in front of him. Zayn is in his personal space only a moment later, shoving the daily newspaper into his face. “You fucking moron, this is your fault!”

“What? What is my fault?” It’s probably his fault, yeah, but he still wants to know what he did this time. And Zayn is waving around the newspaper so much he can’t even see what this is about!

"You climbed out of my room and some of my neighbours took pictures! When they figured out that I can’t be spider-man they declared me your fucking boyfriend!”

Louis lets out a hysterical laugh. “What?”

He tears the mask off of his face, hair sticking out into several directions, and finally gets a hold of the paper. He’s right, there it is, in huge bold letters:  **SPIDER-MAN GETS CAUGHT AT HIS BOYFRIEND’S HOUSE. IS HE THE NEW GAY ICON MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR?**

“Shit.”

“Yeah, that’s what my parents said, too.” He pushes at Louis’ chest, trying to knock him over perhaps but Louis’ instinct makes him grab Zayn’s wrist before that can happen.

“That was not my intention and definitely not my fault. They always make up stories like that.”

“I’m not your boyfriend.” His brown eyes have a dangerous sparkle in them that intrigues Louis more than it should.

“But do you want to be?” It’s just a joke, he doesn’t mean it but it takes Zayn by surprise. His eyes widen just for that split second, opening up to show a glimpse of his inner turmoil, his feelings, true feelings perhaps and Louis catches on immediately. “Shit, you actually want to, huh?”

Zayn tries to tear his wrist away like he has been burnt but Louis doesn’t let him. “Shut the fuck up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think I do,” Louis says and walks the boy backwards with their bodies pressed together, steps so much in sync they don’t stumble once. When Zayn’s back hits the wall of the abandoned carpark they’ve met at, the air gets pushed out of his lungs in a gasp that Louis can feel on his face. “Now tell me, do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Zayn sucks in huge gulps of air like he’s working himself up into a hissy fit and Louis really wants to see this usually quiet boy explode all over the place. That’s why he can’t help but run his fingers up Zayn’s side in a taunting way whilst his eyes drop to the other boy’s lips.

“I hate you,” Zayn says then, trying too hard to convince Louis and himself that it’s true. His hands come up to grab Louis’ head by digging his fingers into his already rumpled hair. “I hate you so fucking much,” he repeats right before he kisses Louis.

It’s a good kiss, all sharp with teeth and enough pressure to make Louis lose himself in it. He whimpers a little when Zayn pulls away but he only does it to angle his head to the other side before he dives right back in, stealing both of their breaths until all they can breathe is each other. Louis has kissed plenty of people for fun but this is not for fun, he realises. He doesn’t know what exactly it is that he feels but he doesn’t want to leave so he kisses Zayn even harder, a little desperate perhaps which probably makes him even more pathetic. But Zayn is right on the same page with him, opening his lips to let Louis suck on his tongue, fingers burying themselves deeper into his hair.

“You know what,” Louis mumbles with a wrecked voice between this kiss and their next kiss. He hopes there will be another kiss. “No one ever hated me like you did.”

“Shut up,” Zayn says and Louis doesn’t know why but he complies, leaning forward to meet Zayn in another bruising kiss that will have his lips all red and sore at the end of the day.

That’s when he feels Zayn’s fingers wandering from his hair to the back of his neck where the zipper of his suit starts. He makes an encouraging noise, places it right against Zayn’s lips and nods slightly as their noses rub together.  _Do it_ , he thinks, and Zayn does, helping him free his arms out of the suit until it pools around his hips dangerously low. But it’s so fucking tight there’s no way it will accidentally slide down.

“Fuck,” Zayn breathes as his fingers follow the lines of Louis’ barely healed scars, the ones he had taken care of that night with gentle hands. Right now there’s more intent in his touches, fingers dipping down further into the back of Louis’ suit. He flat out moans when Zayn’s nails scratch over the curve of his arse only to pull him closer a moment later, pushing them together until their dicks touch with too many layers between them.

“Oh god.”

“I said shut up.”

“I can’t,” Louis moans and rocks his hips against Zayn’s, feeling the boy’s knee slide between his legs so he’s basically rubbing himself off on him. “Can’t when it feels so good, fuck.”

Louis knocks their foreheads together with their noses aligned and their mouths hanging open as they try to find the right rhythm that gets both of them off the fastest. It’s desperate, needy and when Zayn finally lets himself go and groans loudly Louis almost faints from how good it sounds, from how beautiful he is and wow, he really likes seeing him that way.

“Fucking knew it,” Louis gasps on already shaky legs and grinds down harder on Zayn’s thigh. “You were checking me out like a creep all this time, acting like you’re too cool to like spider-man. You wanted me so badly, huh?”

“Yeah,” Zayn admits with his eyes closed.

“Please tell me you had wet dreams about me.”

“Don’t ruin the fucking moment,” Zayn growls and digs his nails deeper into Louis’ skin.

“It’s not ruin- ruining – fuck- It’s called dirty talk.”

“All you do is talk shit, though.”

“I can do better,” Louis promises and only has to tilt his face a little for their lips to align again. He keeps the kiss short because he finds himself breathing heavily through his nose, coming up for more air just a moment later. “You’re so hot, Zayn. Want you to fuck me when we get the chance.”

“Yeah?” Zayn watches him through hooded eyes, rolling his hips pointedly to make Louis whimper again. “Bet a lot of people would like to fuck you since you’re their favourite superhero.”

 _You_. Zayn said 'you’. Not spider-man. He gets it, he fucking gets it and it makes Louis’ heart flutter, makes him come right in his suit with his head falling onto Zayn’s shoulder and his hands holding on to him like he’s the one who needs to be saved.

And well, Zayn kind of does.

*

“I hope you’re not too sad,” Liam says with a smile that is way too happy and sneaks his arm around Louis’ shoulder.

“About what?”

“Come on, I know you read about it on the internet. Spider-man has a boyfriend now.”

“Oh.” Louis blinks. “Yeah, that. Really sucks, man.”

Liam’s smile drops but his arm stays around him like the constant that he’s always been in Louis’ life. “Seriously. Are you okay?”

“You know what?” He smiles. “I actually am.”

*

“Come on, say it,” Louis mumbles against Zayn’s lips, pulling him closer as they roll over the sheets. Zayn ends up on top of him, pushing Louis’ hands down with their fingers entwined.

“I don’t want to,” he answers and starts to mouth at Louis’ jaw.

“Zaayynnn…”

“Ugh, fine. I’m your boyfriend,” he says like he doesn’t care and proceeds to suck a bruise into Louis’ neck.

“You’re so gross,” Louis mutters. “I love it.”

*

Louis doesn’t plan for Liam to find out. But then he and his science class get kidnappepd on a school trip and Louis has to save them. He doesn’t  _have_  to of course but he’s spider-man and it would be rude not to, also his heart is going nuts with worry because Liam is still his best friend and he can’t fucking lose him. He knocks out the gang leader with a witty remark that he’s very proud of and latches on to the side of the wall to kick another guy in the face. 

It’s all fine and goes spectacularly well until he feels his spider-senses tingle and that’s not just a joke; the hairs on the back of his neck are rising and his skin prickles with alarm so he twists his whole body and there he is: Liam trying to help him by punching one of his captors in the face. His class mates have already scattered in fear along with the teacher, trying to get themselves to safety and it sure looks like Liam is trying to buy them time by sacrificing himself.

What a fucking idiot.

“Liam!” The name just slips right out of his mouth and before he knows it he barrels right into his best friend, pushing him out of the way. Liam stares up at him with the biggest eyes when Louis grabs his face. “Are you mad?! You’re  _not_  the fucking hero!”

Then he gets up and shoots a web into the douchebag’s face. He stumbles back with a yelp and Louis is on him in less than a second, knocking him out. It’s silent after that, except for two rattling breaths and a broken voice calling out, “Louis?”

He slowly turns around, pulling off his mask but keeping it close to his chest. “Hey, Liam. Glad you’re okay. What you did was really stupid though.”

Liam doesn’t even seem to hear his words, he steps closer instead, just repeating his name. “Lou…”

It sounds dangerously intimate, vulnerable and it scares the fuck out of Louis. So he runs before Liam can even reach him. He climbs out of the building and swings across the city as fast as possible. He just needs to get away.

*

“So,” Liam says from the chair in his room, arms crossed in front of his chest. Louis is sitting on the floor and Zayn is right next to him, looking quite uncomfortable. He didn’t want to come but Liam had insisted because of course he knows now who they are and what they are. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Louis sighs and rolls his eyes. “What a stupid question. I had to protect the people I care about.”

“But you told him,” Liam nods at Zayn. “I’m your best friend and you didn’t trust me.”

“He didn’t tell me,” Zayn chimes in. “I found out on my own because I’m the smartest person at this dumb school.”

Louis’ face breaks into a grin but tries not to look at Zayn because he might try to kiss him. Even Liam has to smile and shakes his head fondly. “Yeah, of course. There were moments when I suspected it too but I thought that’s not possible, I thought I’d be the first person you’d tell. Also, that’s some next level narcissism, Lou.”

Louis strokes the spider-man logo on his shirt. It’s a different one from last time and he won’t stop wearing them just because they know.

“But it was smart, wasn’t it?” He shows Liam his widest grin. “And no one died.”

Liam doesn’t respond for a moment, he just watches Louis intensely to the point that he feels like he has to look away again. But he can’t even blink because Liam is not looking at him, not at all, he’s staring at Louis’ mouth, fuck. It only takes a few more seconds and then Liam is on his knees in front of Louis, grabbing his face to kiss him sharply. Louis makes a surprised noise in the back of his throat but his eyes quickly flutter shut because it’s Liam, his best friend that he has pined after for  _years_  and he thought Liam was straight but it seems he’s not?

“Um… I guess I should go then,” Zayn mutters under his breath and fuck no, he sounds really miserable.

But it’s Liam who pulls away and turns his head, one hand reaching out to grab the sleeve of Zayn’s jumper. “Stay.”

Zayn eyes both of them tentatively. “Why?”

“You’re his boyfriend,” Liam states the obvious, as usual.

Zayn just snorts. “Come on, I’ve always seen the way he looks at you. I know you’re what he actually wants, he can’t hide anything from me.”

“Hello, I’m right here,” Louis grumbles but Liam slaps a hand over his mouth to shut him up, still looking at Zayn.

“And he looks at you like you put all the bloody stars in the sky.” Does he? He really needs to work on that, he can’t be an open book.

Zayn clenches and unclenches his jaw, raising his shoulders like he doesn’t know what to do. “So what do you want, Liam?”

“Thought you were good at reading people?”

They look at each other with so much tension in the air Louis feels like he could cut right through it. But Zayn’s right, what does Liam want? Louis knows what  _he_  wants but they need to want it, too.

“Hey guys,” he says awkwardly after tearing Liam’s hand away from his mouth. “I know I’m amazing and it’s hard to stay away from me but I hope neither of you just want me because of my super suit? Granted, I look great in it, but I’m more than that, you know?”

“Oh, shut up,” Zayn suddenly laughs, tension bleeding out of his body. “You’re always ruining the moment.”

“That’s true,” Liam the traitor adds and ignores Louis’ offended look.

“Sorry?” He tries but then Zayn is kissing him too and it’s so different but just as perfect.

Liam moves closer, smoothing one hand over Zayn’s neck while he drags his other through Louis’ hair.

“If spider-man has a boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson needs one as well. So no one gets suspicious.”

Zayn pulls away just a little bit, always licking his lips, always chasing the taste of Louis. “He’s right. It will protect your identity.”

“But… I’m still me, I’m not either of them, you know?”

“We know that,” Liam says. “But they don’t have to.”

“It can work,” Zayn agrees eagerly.

Louis eyes both of them carefully. “Okay…”

They smile at him and when Zayn presses his lips back on Louis’ with Liam kissing down his cheek and neck, he feels oddly complete and very much himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I had more fun with this than I thought and I kind of want more of them but that means I have to write it. Why can't stuff magically write itself? ugh.
> 
> Anyway I hope you liked it! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> You can also talk to me on [tumblr](https://squishyharold.tumblr.com/)


End file.
